I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to packaging equipment and more particularly to a device used to reject improperly oriented packaging elements such as bottle caps during the packaging process.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
Plastic bottles are an increasingly important form of packaging in the world today. The durability and convenience they provide is recognized by persons in virtually all segments of society. Many of these plastic bottles are sealed with plastic, screw on caps to preserve the contents stored within the bottle's confines. Products making use of plastic bottle caps are numerous and are not limited to any specific type of goods. Commonly these caps seal bottles used to package various types of beverages including soft drinks and water, and a wide range of other liquids and substances.
Due to the high demand for these products, plastic bottling plants manufacture billions of capped plastic bottles every year. To meet such demand, bottling plants must use efficient, highly automated processes and machines which enable a uniform flow of materials during production. One area which has proven to be problematic to these machines is the tendency of plastic bottle caps to flip or become incorrectly orientated during the manufacturing process. It is desired that when these bottle caps are fed into the mechanism performing bottle sealing, the caps are aligned such that they lay on their closed circular portion with the open end located above it.
Because of the relative ease by which these caps become misaligned during the manufacturing process, failure to correct the misalignment frequently results in bottle caps being fed upside-down into the capping machine and incorrect capping taking place. The resulting flawed products cause disruptions in the bottling process and a considerable amount of wasted time and materials. Devices attempting to solve this problem have generally been complicated apparatuses which reject incorrectly orientated caps and allow properly aligned caps to fit within a series of grooved components. These apparatuses have many parts, use a complex mechanism, and are not always successful in accomplishing a relatively simple job. Therefore what is needed is a simplified and more efficient manner in which to align and orient bottle caps in the manufacturing process.
The problems outlined above are not limited to bottles and bottle caps. Many other forms of packaging are sealed using other types of sealing members, many of which have cupped or recessed portions like the sealing members used to cap bottles.